


What Goes Unsaid (But What Never Needed Saying)

by ohmygoshwhatascream



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, F/M, Fluff too I guess, just some sad Zeke for y’all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 09:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21336169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmygoshwhatascream/pseuds/ohmygoshwhatascream
Summary: Zeke wonders if what he did was truly the right choice to make.
Relationships: Zeke von Genbu/Saika | Pandoria
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	What Goes Unsaid (But What Never Needed Saying)

**Author's Note:**

> me throwing this angst on you bc The Big Sad made me write this and now here is food for your viewing pleasure

Zeke sits alone. His feet dangle precariously over the edge, his dark boots shadowed against the glowing ether of Leftheria. 

The Cloud Sea looms far below, a forgotten patch of darkness. Its endless expanse, eternal like the indigo sky, melts into long shadows of charred clouds, swirling within the midst of an invisible gale. 

There’s a buzz in the air, something static that sparks against open skin and soft hair. Words linger like stars amidst the night sky, words that have so far gone unsaid.

Their sharp bite hisses in gusts of wind and Zeke finds his mind wandering back to a time he had tried to forget.

The world is peaceful, save for the occasional squawk of a nearby Tirkin or the screech of a swooping Vang. Constellations glow high in the sky and he can trace the shapes and patterns of their language, but he cannot put a name to them. He had never bothered to learn and now the chance he once had is gone.

“Hey, my prince! Pretty brave to be sitting there, huh? If you fall into the Cloud Sea _again_ I’m not fishing you out!” Pandoria appears from behind him, boots stomping heavily against the tickling grass and hardened mud. She approaches him, hands rough and familiar on his shoulder before she flops recklessly beside him.

With a wide smirk, the lightbulbs on her shoulders glow brighter than any constellation ever could. He can feel the heat of her electricity like fire against the crisp, midnight air. He responds with a wan smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, too tired to even pretend that everything is alright.

Instantly, Pandoria’s mood dampens. Her lightbulbs dim until their light grows pale and her lips turn downwards into a frown.

“Hey, my prince, what’s wrong?” Pandoria shifts closer to him. She rests a tentative hand on his arm and when he makes no move of protest, she leans carefully against him. “Are you okay?” 

A gust of wind blows across Leftheria. Pandoria’s skin feels chilled, shivering as the temperature drops low. Night has arrived and sorely missed is the warmth of the sun.

Zeke doesn’t answer for a moment. Instead, his attention remains focused solely on the bright illumination of the sky. In a blanket of forest greens and ocean blues, the sky seems to move about like a sheet of the finest silk. Translucent, the stars glow like lighthouses amongst the sea of blackened sky. 

Leftheria’s aurora was renowned for its beauty amongst the inhabitants of Alrest. Throughout their travels, Pandoria had spoken to many who longed to one day see the late night sky torn apart in gleaming colours. Like a rift in time and space, the aurora’s unearthly glow seemed to bathe the Titans underneath it in mystical light. Magical was the only word to describe it, really. Even then, there was no word in any tongue or language across the world that could give such a sight the justice it deserved. 

A gift from the Architect, truly. Something to be cherished, held close to the heart.

This is not the first time Pandoria and Zeke have been treated to such a sight, yet – without fault – the view still manages to take Pandoria’s breath away. 

“The people of Tantal…” Zeke begins, voice thick with something guilt ridden and horribly forlorn. “They’ll never get to see something like this. Not while my old man is in charge.” Zeke swallows, pausing to take in a deep breath. His gaze is still fixated on the aurora, eye overshadowed with some melancholy emotion.

“Pandy… do you ever feel guilty?” She looks up at him, blinking behind her glasses. “For what?” Voice inquisitive, she leans closer. 

Zeke sighs. He closes his eyes. He takes in another deep breath.

“For being out here. For seeing the world, when the rest of Tantal have to suffer.” He shakes his head. “Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone back. If I should have done something, _anything_, to try and help the people; _my_ people.” 

He puts his head in his hands, jostling Pandoria ever so subtly away from him. His grief is his own and Pandoria sorely wishes there is something she could do to help. 

She doesn’t hold the same twisted adoration that Zeke does for the Kingdom of Tantal.   
_He_ grew up there. _He_ learned how to speak, how to read, how to write, all inside Theosoir’s cold stone walls. _He_ spent his childhood wondering why there was no food, why everything was so cold and desolate and broken. _He’d_ grown up and seen the kingdom suffer under Eulogimenos’ uncaring rule. 

Regardless of their banishment, regardless of the contempt Zeke feels towards his father and the disgust he feels of a country so ignorant to the rest of the world around it, Tantal is still his home. 

Pandoria will never understand that. Tantal, for her, was just the cold snowy place she vaguely remembers. She may feel a certain fondness for Genbu - after all, she’s one of the only creatures that can control the path it treads – but she feels almost nothing for the people of Tantal.

Sure, she feels sorry for them. She feels the sadness that Zeke feels, hidden behind his cold grey eyes. She feels pity in the way an Urayan pities the demise of Mor Ardain. It’s sad, it’s not great, but there’s no connection. In Pandoria’s mind, Tantal is just another name, another place that struggles under corrupt rule and conflict. 

But when Zeke looks like this, so lost and lonely and forlorn, Pandoria wishes she could understand. 

“Hey, my prince… it’s not your fault that Tantal is…” she breaks off, for she does not know what to say.

Words of jest, words of mocking, words of joy. Such things come as naturally to her as lightning from her fingertips or the twitching of her ears. But delicate matters, ones concerning the innermost depths of someone’s heart, the raw vulnerability of someone struggling... she finds her breath gone and her tongue twisted into knots.

She does not know what she can do but offer herself, the warmth of her hands and the brightness of her smile.

She wonders if such a thing will always be enough.

She shifts closer to Zeke until their shoulders touch once more. His skin is cool even through the fabric of his coat and she longs to warm the ice of his heart, the cold of sadness that sweeps through his grey eyes. 

She leans against him, closing her eyes as he moves to hold her close.

She can feel his breath against her hair, the thrum of ether that flows between them. She can feel their connection that binds them to death, the shared life that flows from his chest to hers.

“I know things aren’t great right now, My Prince. But… I’ll always be here for you. I’ll always be by your side.”

Her words feel empty, as though it isn’t quite enough, but she feels Zeke’s smile against her skin. 

“I’m glad to have a friend like you, Pandy.” He whispers and together they sit, bathed under emerald light. 

**Author's Note:**

> trynna finish stuff rn so I feel a bit better 😩😩😩 teenage angst be hitting like a truck


End file.
